Putting Principles above Personalities

By John Kinsella, CMC, CCE, WGMC, AAC

As we move into the New Year, we are about to make decisions on the future of the American Culinary Federation. After much research and committee involvement, we have come to the conclusion that the recommended changes by our bylaws committee and the continual work of our strategic-planning committee will take us into the 21st century.

One of the American Culinary Federation's greatest assets is its strong membership involvement, and all our committees this year have demonstrated that. Thanks to the hard work of the American Culinary Federation Foundation's Accrediting Commission, we are now able to accredit baccalaureate programs, in addition to certificate and associate-degree programs. Also, the board of directors has decided to take our certification program to the next level. An independent certification consultant will look at our program and tell us where we stand when compared with national certification standards. Then he will supply us with a game plan to reach those goals. Our aim is to add credibility to the certification program and value to those who achieve all levels of certification.

Some of the larger educational institutions have signed contracts to enroll their faculty and students in the American Culinary Federation, and we are starting to see a remarkable growth in our membership. The success of this membership drive has convinced us that we need a bylaws change to enable junior culinarians to remain members at a lower cost. We will also be proposing a standardized membership-dues program for all chapters, so that members can easily transfer from one chapter to another. With our new database system, we will be able to complete these transfers in nanoseconds.

As promised, I have asked for the continual review of every program within ACF. You will see some remarkable recommendations coming from these task forces and committees, and you will also see some changes to enable us to grow our revenue base. As I have said before, what we used to do to run the American Culinary Federation does not work anymore. To have a dynamic organization, we must be willing to change for the betterment of all members within the federation. I believe that we must put principles above personalities. Let's put aside the knee-jerk reactions to positive growth, and put our members first. They own the American Culinary Federation and are the shareholders; as such, we represent their best interests, and not our own. Yes, I believe that there will be naysayers, but before you listen to them, think what is best for a federation: simply, putting our members first, meeting their needs and, most of all, having the guts to stand up for what is right and not for what is expedient, which will slow us down and make us ineffective.

As a volunteer organization, we depend on the good services of all our members, and with this in mind I'm going to recommend to the board that we form a junior national board of directors in 2008. The junior board president will sit on the national board of directors as a fully voting member and help us direct the concerns of our junior members into positive policy. Our accredited programs and chapters would make regional nominations to serve on the junior board. Junior members would vote on nominees from their regions, and at each regional conference, a board member for that region would be announced. During regional conferences, we could also ask for nominees for junior national board president.

As many national boards of directors have public members, I will suggest to the board that we invite the president of the Research Chefs Association to join our board in 2008 so that we can start a strong dialogue with that organization. I will recommend that we ask the president of the National Restaurant Association to join us, also, so that we can work together on a national policy to represent our room industry at the local, state and federal levels. We no longer can be an island unto ourselves. We must have the common sense to realize that strength brings power, unity and a bright future for our members.

Many years ago, I overheard a food and beverage director make the comment that all chefs are crazy prima donnas. We all know that we are not, that we are the most professional group in the hospitality industry today, and that we strive for excellence both in the workplace and in our professional careers. I would like to believe that when we look back at 2007, we will be gratified that this was the year we became the strongest group of chefs and cooks in the world, with formulated policies that serve our members, and, most of all, that we became part of the national forum in our industry.

So, I am depending on you, as members, to become active in your chapters, demand change and reach out to all the chefs and cooks in your area, and by example show them that we are the finest culinary organization in the United States.

Please do not hesitate to e-mail me with your ideas, and I promise you nothing will be ignored, because, in reality, I am just another member of a great organization.

Good cooking to you all.